//------------------------------// // Getting To Know You // Story: Light in the Dusk // by AlphatheGriffin17 //------------------------------// "Twilight, I'm back!" Dusk announced, stepping back into the library a good few minutes later. She was sitting at a desk, though Spike was absent. "Hey Dusk," she greeted. "You were gone quite a while. You didn't have any trouble, did you?" "No, not at all. I'm sorry for not being back sooner, but... Rarity invited me to stay for tea... it seemed rude to pass up the invitation..." "It's okay, I told you that you could take as long as you needed," she reminded him. "I told you it would be alright." "Yes, you did... thanks for being understanding..." "No problem. Now, do you want to help me sort through these old books?" She gestured to the pile in the corner. "Certainly," he said, heading over to them with Twilight. There was still no sign of his fellow assistant. "Where's Spike? Is he asleep upstairs?" "Actually, he's gone to Rarity's," she explained. "I gave him some time off, so he went there to see if there was anything he could help her with." She whispered conspiratorially to him. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he has kind of a crush on her..." "I did notice," Dusk told her, levitating a book from the topmost pile. "A Classic Study on Weather Control, that's for the science section... but yes, I saw from yesterday. It is rather... obvious." "I know, but don't say anything about it," she said, bringing a book down herself. "I think he views it as a secret. Hm, another edition on The History of Equestria... looks old." Don't worry, I won't say a word," he promised, sorting away another book. "There are quite a lot of them, aren't there?" "Well, it's a good thing we're both working together to sort them." Twilight gave him an encouraging look. "We'll have it done in no time. Besides, we might find something really interesting, like an ancient study of magic or science journals. Can you imagine what could turn up? We might find spells that have been lost for years, long lost magic and records!" "Those would be quite a remarkable find, I agree with you there," Dusk conceded, smiling at how excited she was about it. He couldn't help but feel a little excited too. "Really? You're intrigued by this too?" She sounded surprised that he was. "Of course," Dusk affirmed, sorting another book. "Reading is one of my favourite pastimes, as is learning about anything that takes my interest. It's why I have my cutie mark." "I suppose it's kind of obvious, when you put it like that," she agreed. "Well, that's great Dusk. Spike does help me with my studies, but I think he gets bored with all of the studying at times. I enjoy reading and learning too. It seems we'll get along better than I first thought." "Yes, I suppose we will," he said, still smiling. "I'll keep an eye out for any good stuff…" They remained in silence for a while, but a comfortable one at least. The quiet was only ever broken when they remarked on a book that they had found, perhaps an obscure title, or an old edition of a more recently updated book. The latter wouldn't be much use in the library practically, though they could probably sell it to collectors of old texts. Dusk had to admit that he was enjoying himself immensely. His apologies had been successful, his new-found friends had forgiven him and now, he was spending time with the unicorn he'd always hoped to speak to. This was certainly turning out better than yesterday, he could say that much. "Wow! Look at this!" He turned to Twilight, who showed him her discovery. "A first edition of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone! There are barely any left!" "First edition?" Dusk carefully examined the book, checking the date it was published. "You're right, it is! This is a great find, especially for such a great series of books. Hold on..." He placed on the adventure section, with great care. "Do you read them, Dusk?" she asked excitedly. "Of course, who doesn't read Daring Do?" He found a smile coming to his face again. "I've read every single one, I'm currently re-reading the whole series." "So am I! A fellow fan!" Twilight seemed ecstatic at the idea. "Which one did you think was best? I felt that Griffon's Goblet was even better than the first." "That was okay," Dusk noted, very pleased that they shared a passion, "except for, I think, the Griffon Guardian, that replaced Ahuitzotl as the villain. Why bring in a new one, if we already have such a good one?" "To be fair though, we never see her again anyway," Twilight pointed out, returning to the sorting pile. "Besides, he got a lot of time in Ahuitzotl's Revenge for his own diabolical plans." "Oh, that was a brilliant read. I really thought she was doomed in that one," he admitted. "I know, so did I! I liked the one with..." They continued on with their sorting, all the while discussing the Daring Do series. It seemed that, like him, Twilight had always wanted somepony to talk about her own ideas on the series. Now she had, she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying very minute of it, as did Dusk. Dusk had never imagined that he would get along so well with her, how much they thought alike about this particular subject. She'd actually let him go off on a rant about a plot line in the fourth book, Everfree Emerald, involving Daring Do's father,that had almost nothing to do with the rest of the story and never went anywhere, only to discover that she thought the exact same thing about too. They'd laughed for a while after that. They finished sorting through the rest of the books about half an hour later. There were some science journals that might be worth looking at, an ancient book of magic and a few more first editions, but most of them were too outdated to be sorted into the shelves. Spike arrived back at roughly the same time. "Hey, you guys managed to sort all of those books out," he exclaimed. "Good, I wasn't looking forward to that." "Oh, we had great fun sorting them all out, right Dusk?" Her grin grew wider as he nodded in agreement. "See Spike? Sorry you had to miss out." "Yeah, I know. I am too," Spike said, in a mock forlorn voice. "Next time I have the opportunity to handle a bunch of old, dusty books, I'll be sure not to miss out on it." "Don't worry," Dusk assured, playing along. "I'll be sure you're the first to know, so you can help out as soon as possible." They all burst out laughing at that. "Well, after that," Twilight announced, "I think we need some lunch. Spike, would you make us some dandelion sandwiches please?" "Sure thing, Twilight. Come on Dusk, you can give me a hoof with them." "Alright. Don't worry Twilight, I don't mind," he assured her, as she was about to say something. "I'll just make my own." She nodded, as Dusk followed Spike into the kitchen. He was second assistant after all, he liked to feel he was pulling his own weight around here, so that meant helping Spike on occasion. Besides, he rather liked the dragon. As he pulled out some bread and dandelions, along with a little mayonnaise, and set about making a lunch for himself, Spike struck up a conversation: "So Dusk, Rarity told me you were at hers for tea," he started casually, slicing some bread up. "That's right yes," Dusk confirmed. "She was very kind to offer that I stay for a bit." "I see..." His tone was mistrustful, suspicious. "So... what did you guys talk about?" "Um... all sorts really," Dusk told him, wondering about his sudden hostility. "The town, her business, a little about my studies... her family comes from Hoofdale, you know..." "I do know, she told me," he said firmly. "She thinks you're very charming, polite even..." "She... does?" Why did he sound so hostile about this? Had he said something wrong? "Well... that's good. At least I... left the right impression." "Okay, that's it!" He rounded on Dusk, waving the butter knife at him. "Alright, you don't play games with me. What are you up to with Rarity?" "Up to?" He backed off a little. "What do you mean 'up to'-?" Then, it hit him. Twilight had said before and he'd seen it himself yesterday. "Oh, you think I... I want to be... like that with Rarity? Spike, you've got the wrong idea." "You mean... you don't?" He lowered the dull knife. "While I admit that she is... attractive, I'm not interested in her... in that sense. For one thing, we've just met. We just had tea together and chatted, that was it." "Oh... right..." He looked rather embarrassed with himself now. "Sorry about that, I shouldn't have just assumed like that. It's just that... well..." He beckoned him closer. Dusk knew where this was going, but he complied. "I have a crush on Rarity," the dragon whispered. "You can't tell anypony I told you that." "Don't worry Spike, I can keep a secret," Dusk promised, with full honesty. "I'll not get between you and Rarity, you have my word." "Good, glad that's settled." He put on the final touches, as did Dusk and placed the sandwich on a plate. "You're a good guy, Dusk." "I try Spike... besides, we are both assistants to Twilight," he reminded him. "I like to think we have a certain respect for each other." "Hey, yeah you're right. It could be like a brotherhood, or fellowship thing." He gestured with his claw. "Spike and Dusk: Fellowship of the Library." "Hm, catchy," Dusk chuckled. "Come on, let's eat." "Just remember," he warned, "Rarity is mine." Dusk chuckled again, as Spike walked boldly out with the sandwich, like a parody of a proud soldier off to a Party War. After a pleasant lunch, the trio returned to their library work. Twilight continued with her studies, while Dusk and Spike did whatever duties she assigned them. Since Spike had done most of the chores in the morning, Dusk didn't end up doing a whole lot, just fetching the occasional book, or being otherwise immersed in one himself. He occasionally did something with Spike, such as when they took out the trash, or went out to buy more food for the kitchen. Other than that, the dragon would just talk to Dusk while they were on break. Dusk let him do most of the talking, as the dragon told him about aspects of his life, what it was like being a dragon and all the things he'd done as Twilight's assistant. Including a few funny stories. "... so then this pony with green coat, head high and full of himself, he gets the book that Twilight needs for her studies," he was telling him, trying to refrain from sniggering. "She tried to reason with him, but he just refused to hoof it over. Let me tell you, he wasn't exactly polite about it. So..." He descended into little fits of giggles. "Go on, what happened?" Dusk could feel laughter rising in his own chest, mainly because of Spike and also because he had a good idea of which pony he was talking about. "So then... she completely lost it and, with a flash of magic she... she turned his head into a fish bowl!" The two of them fell about laughing at that, Dusk barely being able to contain himself at the thought of it. "Yeah, I think I know which guy you mean," Dusk said, in-between sniggers. "He did the same with me, didn't even apologise. I'm glad he got his comeuppance." "Me too," he agreed, wiping a tear from his eye. "He sure kept quiet after that, I can tell you that." "Excuse me, can you two keep it down? I'm trying to concentrate." Twilight looked up from the book she was reading, looking rather ticked off. "Sorry Twilight..." Dusk felt a little ashamed now. "We'll try... not to disturb you..." "It's okay Dusk, just... try to be a little more quiet." "Of course. Come on Spike, let's get back to work," he suggested. "Spoilsport," Spike said, though he winked at Dusk when he did, which he returned. They continued their work for another few hours, until the sun began to lower in the sky. Spike gave a big yawn, almost falling asleep on the book he was carrying. Dusk took it from him gently, and shelved it. Twilight noticed this and sat up from her desk. "I think it's time we all got some sleep." She turned to Dusk, led Spike off. "Will you be alright getting home Dusk?" "I'll be fine. Goodnight Twilight, Spike. Sleep well..." "You too, Dusk. You were great today, I enjoyed talking to you." She gave him another smile. "See you in the morning." Placing on his saddlebag, Dusk closed the door and began to happily trot his way home. Once he got there, he put the bag in the corner, got himself ready for bed and climbed in, already feeling drowsy. He'd done it. He'd actually done a good effort at his job. Not only that, but he'd hit it off well with Twilight, made friends with Spike and made amends with the others too. They'd all been so great, even though he was new and inexperienced. Despite all of this though, he still had his doubts and they were coming back again. Why were they treating him like a friend when they had barely known him, when he'd only arrived a two days ago? Even though Pinkie had said otherwise, the idea that they were just being nice and friendly to him because he was new came back to him and consumed his thoughts the more he thought about it. That was why they had come looking for him after he ran off, he thought. They didn't want him to feel guilty and unwelcome for being such a fool, so they'd tried to make him feel better. Sure, it had worked, but they must know that by this point, so the deed was done. Now the 'crisis had passed', he suspected that they would start to leave him alone soon enough. He remembered that revelation that he'd had, after he'd helped Fluttershy, that maybe he could make a difference if he tried. It seemed so long ago now, the fire slowly dying inside him, returning him to the old Dusk. She must have done it on her own before, so she needn't have bought him along in the first place, making his own assistance seem rather... negligible. Maybe that new way of thinking was just a 'spur of the moment' thing. It was gone now... long passed... So, as Dusk wrapped himself up in his covers and rested his head, he decided to save them the trouble. He would focus on remaining to work in the library, what he had come here to do. He had smoothed things over with them all, so he could now be at peace knowing they would remember that he, at least, was good in some sense. It wasn't like they would come looking for him in a hurry, and he was still friends with Twilight at least. That much he was thankful for. He would just stay in the library, and work. Just like old times... Away from Ponyville, in the dark and dangerous depths of the Everfree Forest, all kinds of creatures stirred. The deadly, the normal and the downright bizarre. But all of them, no matter how big, steered away from a cave, deep within the trees. Animals that ventured there never returned. Something far worse lurked in this cave, which it had dug into the rock, with winding and twisting tunnels, ensuring whoever ventured there would be surely lost... and wind up as its next dinner. No animal ever saw it. All they knew was that it was large, fearsome, cunning and very hungry. Right now, it was putting the final stages of a long plan into effect. It's evil eyes scanned over the latest letter, addressed to... Celestia from the one his enemy called 'Twilight Sparkle'. Yes, the time was close now. Using the magic it had stored up, from thousands of years of waiting and the creatures it ate, it had been intercepting the letters between the Princess and her protegee. So much disgusting sentiment about the 'magic of friendship.' It made it feel sick. But not for much longer. The wait would be worth it. Winter would soon be here... Too long had those vile princesses resided over Equestria, ever since they wiped out its kind when they rose up against its master. But now, it was almost ready. It would continue to watch, to wait, making sure nothing would interfere with the final plan. It would be... glorious. "Ssssoon," it hissed quietly, waiting alone in the dark it always lurked in, "sssoon..."